Roses and Thorns 1-30-11

January 29, 2011 9:12:00 PM

A rose to the Columbus High School Parent-Teacher Organization, which organized the first Falcon Showcase at the school Thursday.

Local leaders and community members munched on hors d''oeuvre, desserts and dinner provided by staff and culinary students. The school''s jazz band, soloists, gospel and show choirs, and others provided the entertainment. And more students provided the education -- that Columbus High is a great place to learn and grow with a rich variety of activities.

Our hats are off to the organizers and the students, who provided such great talent on what turned out to be a wonderful, inspiring and entertaining evening.

A rose to Triangle Maintenance Service for pitching in on the Burns Bottom soccer park project.

Scott Hannon, owner of Triangle Maintenance Services and the president of the Columbus Lowndes Recreation Authority''s Board of Directors, sent a crew to the site to mulch trees being cleared from the site. City Engineer Kevin Stafford said Triangle Maintenance will sell the mulch to Weyerhaeuser but won''t make a profit.

We expected the city to provide in-kind services for the project. We''re more heartened that a private company like Hannon''s is pitching in.

We hope others in the private sector will be inspired by Hannon''s lead and find a way to contribute to this exciting new park at the city''s front door.

A rose to Danyae Pippins, 8, who helped out the Columbus fire department, and became something of a hero himself to his classmates.

Danyae, a Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School student, found a radio left behind by a Columbus firefighter at the scene of a fire earlier this month.

The young man returned the radio, saving the city the $800 it would have cost to replace it.

Columbus firefighters surprised Danyae and his Cook classmates with a pizza party on Friday.

The students probably won''t soon forget the tasty reminder to be responsible, and we assume neither will Fire & Rescue Capt. Chip Kain, who left the radio behind, and was rescued himself by the 8-year-old.

Thorns to all of us who make it easier for burglars to profit. Starkville is experiencing a rash of burglaries, mainly targeting cars -- and more precisely, unlocked cars or ones with valuables in plain view.

Thieves have been prowling in areas where Mississippi State University students live, and are finding the pickings are easy.

Starkville police discovered the same thing. Sweeping through neighborhoods, they spotted cars with valuables including iPods, other electronics, and money in plain view.

Columbus police discovered the same thing this past holiday season. A Police Explorer troop swept through Leigh Mall, discovering unlocked cars and cars with valuables -- including a few guns -- in plain sight.

Locking doors won''t stop every crime. But so many property crimes could be avoided if we''d only secure our belongings properly, and keep our homes and vehicles locked. Many in Starkville, unfortunately, and learning this lesson the hard way.